Irrevocable (Evan Arden 5)

“Makes sense.”

“I’ll take care of that.”

“I’ll keep going through the security cameras until I find a sign of Joshua. Now that we have more account information, I can also try to track him through access.”

“It’s a plan.” I start to gather up my stuff to leave when Jonathan speaks again.

“I got something else for ya.” Jonathan taps at the keyboard and spins the laptop around so I can see the screen. “James Marino.”

“Who’s that?”

“Your whore’s father.”

The picture on the screen is a mugshot from several years ago. James Marino was picked up for running a prostitution ring of teen girls, but someone screwed up legal procedure, and he ended up walking. Turns out he did a year for narcotics possession, but the other charges were dropped.

“Where is he now?” I ask as I try to keep my hands from shaking.

“Oak Park.”

“Is he still fucking little girls?”

Jonathan glances at me, and I’m certain he knows exactly what’s going on in my head.

“You getting attached to this hooker?” he asks.

“It doesn’t matter.” I look at him and await his answer.

“He hasn’t had any other convictions,” Jonathan said. “Looks like he got put out of business when people caught on to what was happening.”

“You have an address?”

Jonathan hands me a piece of paper with an address on it. The place actually sounds familiar, and I realize it’s only a couple of blocks from the apartment Lia was living in while I was serving time.

I stare at the paper for a while as a

plan begins to form in my head. I might need a little assistance to get it all together.

“Where’s Paulie?”

“He’s at the hospital.”

“What’s he doing there?”

“Still watching over Rinaldo. I think Lele’s there, too.”

“Rinaldo was supposed to be discharged yesterday.”

“They’re running more tests on him,” Jonathan says. “He’s going to be there a few more days.”

“What tests? How long?” I hadn’t heard any of this.

“That’s all I know.”

I don’t like the sound of it. Forgetting James Marino for a moment, I immediately head for the hospital.

Rinaldo isn’t in the same room, and I have to harass someone at the nurses’ station to figure out where he’s been moved. Once I find him, Paulie is standing outside the door.

“What’s going on? “ I ask. “He was supposed to be home by now.”